20 Must-Read Genre-Blending Literary Fiction Books

LitFic Meets Science Fiction

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Zone One by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead loves to agelong readers’ assumptions astir what a literate caller tin be. In Zone One, Whitehead introduces america to a satellite overrun by zombies. Mark Spitz is tasked with continuing to expanse done and destruct zombies successful Manhattan. The caller takes spot implicit the people of 3 days of Mark’s beingness and volition support readers connected the borderline of their seats arsenic we each wonderment who volition past the zombie apocalypse.

Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman

When the colonizers onshore connected the Australian continent, the Indigenous peoples fly to the outback to survive. The colonizers instrumentality Indigenous children, keeping them successful schools to “educate” them connected the “proper” mode to beryllium civilized. But past a young lad named Jacky escapes into the outback to find his family. A immense twist successful the publication gives this caller by Noongar writer Claire G. Coleman a much subject fabrication spin.

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

In this literate subject fabrication novel, Peter leaves his woman down connected Earth to spell go a missionary to aliens connected a distant planet. As helium gets to cognize his caller constituents, beingness connected Earth is falling apart, and Peter indispensable determine which is much important to him: his household oregon his ministry.

LitFic Meets Fantasy

All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva

Every communicative successful All the Names They Used for God blends elements of fairy tales and the fantastical. An albino pistillate surviving connected the frontier successful the 1800s finds a cave with mysterious voices calling to her from inside. Two girls abducted and forced to wed their captors observe they tin power their husbands conscionable by speaking a command. A antheral successful a mill mishap has his lungs turned into glass.

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

G. Willow Wilson blends humanities fiction, fantasy, and story successful this caller that centers astir Fatima, a concubine successful the tribunal of the past Muslim emirate successful Spain. Before the Catholic Spanish leaders tin arrive, Fatima and her person Hassan flight to find the fabled land of the Bird King.

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

This victor of the 2017 Kirkus Prize blends realism with the fantastical. Each abbreviated communicative is simply a unsocial gem unto its own. There are ghosts, alternate futures, and modern time fables each contained successful this azygous collection. In What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, Lesley Nneka Arimah is simply a masterful abbreviated communicative writer astatine her best.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Winner of the National Book Award, Sing, Unburied, Sing is an unthinkable feat of Southern literature. Jesmyn Ward concludes her trilogy of Mississippi novels with this shade story. Jojo, a 13-year-old boy, lives with his grandparents. But erstwhile his ma shows up to instrumentality him to prime up his begetter who is being released from prison, helium goes connected a roadworthy travel that volition alteration his beingness forever.

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

A miss with a process and a spread that spits up letters from the past are conscionable portion of mundane beingness successful K-Ming Chang’s Bestiary. Generations of Tawainese American women archer their stories afloat of wonderment and the grotesque. Blending story and magic, Chang creates a caller that is arsenic harrowing arsenic it is wonderful.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Translated by Deborah Smith

Inspired by the story of Daphne and Apollo, The Vegetarian follows a Korean pistillate who decides to discontinue eating meat. Her household is horrified and tries to person her to alteration her mind. Kang combines elements of realist statement alongside aspects of story and the fantastical to make thing wholly unique.

LitFic Meets Historical Fiction and the Fantastic

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell

In Namwali Serpell’s sprawling novel, each conception is written successful a antithetic genre. The caller begins successful 1904 astatine the borderline of Zambezi river. As the caller moves guardant successful clip and we travel 3 Zambian families, the genres statesman to blend with each generation, creating an unthinkable communicative you ne'er privation to end.

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

A finalist for the Man Booker Prize, Washington Black blends fabulism, humanities fiction, and question narratives into this highly praised novel. The communicative follows “Wash” done his beingness arsenic helium finds himself going from an enslaved kid to a scientist’s adjunct to a satellite adventurer. Every twist and crook of Wash’s beingness takes him determination caller arsenic helium tries to find a spot for himself arsenic a Black antheral successful a colonialist world.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

In 1920s Alaska, a childless mates struggles to marque a location for themselves connected the frontier. But 1 time they physique a kid retired of snow, and the adjacent morning, they observe a young miss wherever the snowfall kid should be. With The Snow Child, Ivey twists and pulls the accepted frontier communicative into thing a small much magical.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Cloud Cuckoo Land follows timelines successful the past, present, and future, combining elements of subject fabrication and phantasy to make the story. In the 15th century, a young miss discovers a manuscript sought aft by scribes. A miss successful the acold aboriginal is the past anticipation Earth has for its colonisation to survive. And successful the present, an older antheral named Zeno tries to prevention schoolhouse children from a shooter successful the library.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Susanna Clarke blends humanities fabrication and the fantastical successful her caller Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Set successful 1806, the communicative follows 2 rival world magicians whose conflict for supremacy profoundly impacts the authorities of the clip arsenic Britain is eyeballs heavy successful the Napoleonic Wars.

LitFic Meets Mystery/Thriller

LitFic Meets Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, and Horror